Bridgewater, Sherman pace area towns

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 8:00 pm, Thursday, April 5, 2007

In 2005, Sherman ranked first among 25 state towns with populations between 3,500 and 6,500.

Two years later, it has slipped to third place in the latest ranking published in the March edition of "Connecticut Magazine."

Bridgewater was also rated highly by Connecticut Magazine, jumping from fifth to second place in the ranking of towns with populations under 3,500. Roxbury slipped from third to the twelfth spot in the same category.

The town of Washington ranked eleventh on the list in 2005 and again in 2007.

The 6,500 to 10,000 population grouping of 23 towns were once again topped by Redding and then Easton. Litchfield ranked fifth and Woodbury ranked ninth, each dropping a spot from 2005.

The article states Redding and Easton have much in common " good public schools "with test scores among the best in Connecticut." Crime is not considered a problem.

"It could be argued that these are two towns in which the dream of Fairfield County " a civilized life without incessant traffic and rampant consumerism " still resides," the article states.

On odd years since 1993, the magazine has compared the quality of schools, the economy, the crime rate, the cost of living and the leisure and cultural activities and ranked the small towns.

Larger towns are compared and ranked in even years.

Writers Andrew Brady and Patricia Grandjean said "Things like community spirit, cultural diversity, a good local bakery and the reliability of cell-phone reception are not so easy to quantify. Nor is the affection so many of us have for the place we call home."

They leave those qualities for their readers to decide.

The median price of a house is considered a predictor of other local expenses.

Crime statistics are based on major crimes in 2002-04 per 1,000 population.

The writers said the leisure category in the small towns relies heavily on local support for libraries.

Sherman, with a population of 3,827, spends $44.33 per person on its library. Sherman's median house price based on 2005 sales was $524,000, according to the article.

Norfolk, with a population of 1,660, once again topped the "Connecticut Magazine" list of the 27 towns in the state with populations below 3,500. It spends more than $200 a person on its library, the highest rate in the state, according to the article.

Bridgewater, in second place, with a population of 1,824 had the lowest crime rate of the 27 towns, averaging less than six crimes a year. The median price of a house is listed as $500,000 in Bridgewater, up from $283,000 in 2005.

Warren dropped from ninth to rank 11th, while Goshen rose from 10th to rank sixth and Kent jumped from 18th among the smallest towns to ninth.

The writers noted Kent is one of a handful of towns in its group that offers shopping, galleries and restaurants.

"Although 'Rating the Small Towns' is not meant to be the last word on any of the towns included," the article states, "it can be a good place to begin your thought process if you're thinking about moving or merely seeking comparisons with like-sized places around the state."

In the education category, test scores are weighted more heavily than other factors considered " the percentage of graduates heading to four-year colleges and the percentage of students who pass a physical fitness test.